October 27, 1994: Vol26n8: Fanfare, Festival Mark grand Opening of Center for the Arts

By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Reporter Editor
The facility is ready, and magnificent. The events are adventuresome
and diverse. The stage is set for the grand opening of UB's Center for
the Arts.
	A full slate of activities will kick off the Center for the
Arts' Grand Opening Festival, which begins tomorrow and runs through
Nov. 20.
	It signals a new era at UB, where for the first time in the
university's history, the departments of Art, Media Study and Theatre
and Dance all are under one roof. And what a roof it is, covering more
than 225,000 square feet of space, 500 rooms, 700 doors, 220,000
bricks, 420,000 concrete blocks, and 9,000 glass blocks.
	According to Robert E. Chumbley, director of the Center for
the Arts, the facility is "a house for the exploration of all art, its
relevance to our time and our future."
	With its wide array of classrooms, offices and studios, as
well as arts-production and exhibition spaces, the Center for the Arts
will not only serve as the center for arts activities on the North
Campus, but will fill a niche among Western New York arts-presentation
spaces.
	With its soaring atrium, which runs the length of the
facility, the Center for the Arts offers a spectacular view of Lake
LaSalle and the Ellicott Complex. But that's just the beginning of the
building's charms.
	The center houses four theaters: the 1,800-seat Mainstage, the
400-seat Drama Theatre, and two state-of-the-art "black box" theaters.
These are supported by facilities for every aspect of stage
production, from costuming to set design to 68 dressing stations for
performers. There are two spacious dance studios with maple wood
floors engineered for maximum pliancy, 12-foot mirrors and upper-level
observation rooms and sound systems.
	There also are three media screening rooms, editing and
television studios, one of the finest foundries in existence for the
creation of large metal sculptures, and two galleries: the University
Gallery with more than 6,000 square feet of exhibition space on two
floors, and a second, smaller gallery reserved for Art Department use.
	But the month-long series of events that will kick off
tomorrow night in the Center for the Arts is the cornerstone of this
grand opening.
	The Grand Opening Festival is a generous mix of the visual and
performing arts, featuring traditional and contemporary performances,
local and international artists.
	Events include performances by Tanzfabrik, Berlin Dance Co.,
and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Off Beat Cinema and A Tribute
to the 100th Anniversary of Cinema; Roadside Theatre and Brilliant
Traces.
	Among the performances that tomorrow night will kick off the
festival are:
	o The Canadian Brass, five wood instrument players known for
their exuberant mix of music, performing both classical and popular
works ranging from Bach to Fats Waller. Presented by the QRS
Foundation, the 8 p.m. performance on the Mainstage is preceded by a
7:30 p.m. pre-performance talk by Ralph Turgeon, QRS president.
o "Projekt X," based on the book A Voice in the Closet, by Raymond
Federman, UB Distinguished Professor of English and comparative
literature and an award-winning novelist, essayist, poet, and critic.
Performed by Tanzfabrik, Berlin Dance Co., the dance work revolves
around the author's childhood experience as the only member of his
family saved from death at the hands of the Nazis. The work will be
performed at 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Drama Theatre,
and is preceded by a talk by Federman at 5:30 p.m.
	o The Grand Opening Festival also will celebrate film as the
Department of Media Study presents "A Tribute to the 100th Anniversary
of Cinema." A medium that is undergoing some of the most rapid and
dramatic change, the 100th anniversary of cinema will look at what
many consider to be the art form of the 20th century and its influence
on international and global experience. The Department of Media
Study's tribute to the origins of cinema is one of 300 taking place
around the world, and takes place in conjunction with the department's
25th anniversary of the establishment of the field at UB.
	Other performances scheduled as part of the festival include
the Appalachian Storytelling Theatre, the Amherst Saxophone Quartet,
Pick of the Crop dance ensemble and The Threepenny Opera. 
	The Center for the Arts Grand Opening Festival also will
include an exhibit featuring the work of artists from across the
United States and Europe, all of whom offer penetrating views of our
information society, as well as an exhibit of work by UB's
distinguished art faculty. The festival also will feature poetry
readings and multimedia presentations.
	The festival runs through November 20. Ticket are available at
the Center for the Arts ticket office and at all Ticketmaster
locations. For more information, call 645-ARTS.